LPOSD OKs school pilot program
SANDPOINT — Time-honored as books and blackboards might be, a trip to the watershed for lessons in water quality and ecology can make a far greater impact on many students.
Lake Pend Oreille School District officials hope to provide such an experience for those types of learners through a proposed pilot program. Known as expeditionary learning, the education model emphasizes project-based lessons and field work. That means teachers spend less time lecturing and more time guiding students through the process of critical thinking toward a common goal.
“The big difference is that students are engaged in far more field study,” LPOSD superintendent Shawn Woodward said. “Essentially, it gets them outside.”
Woodward detailed the planned project to board members at last week’s regular meeting. After talking with the community, he said a project-based educational program was a common request from many parents. While board members are curious to see how the proposal develops, they’re also pleased that district leaders are both listening to local concerns and acting on them.
“This is a big moment for the district, because you’ve gone into the community, you’ve seen what the needs are and you’re responding to those needs,” said Lake Pend Oreille School Board chairman Steve Youngdahl.
The proposed option will begin as a pilot program operating out of Farmin Stidwell Elementary, Woodward said. However, students from any district school — as well as kids who aren’t yet established LPOSD students — can apply to participate in the new educational model. In fact, Woodward believes establishing an expeditionary learning option could bring in 13 to 15 new students into the school district, as well as provide a preferable option for 15 to 20 students already within the district.
In answer to trustee questions, Woodward said most data indicates that students of expeditionary learning demonstrate similar academic performance to those in more conventional classes. Like other students, they’ll be subject to scholastic standards and have to meet expectations in order to advance.
The proposed pilot program follows more than 200 similarly-structured schools throughout the nation, Woodward said. The model has received support from organizations like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which has distributed millions in grants to get schools off the ground. Given the established headway and local interest, Woodward said providing more options for learning within the community was in the district’s best interests.